The pilot ejected at an altitude of ten feet, suffering a crushed vertebrae. The accident was found to have been caused by a roll-rate gyro which had been installed with reversed polarity. 21 September During delivery flight of North American XB-70A Valkyrie, 62-0001, from Palmdale, California to Edwards Air Force Base, California, on touchdown the brakes on the main gear lock up and the friction causes the eight tires and wheels to burn. The Valkyrie was otherwise undamaged. 14 October Boeing KB-50K Superfortress, 48-065, of the 421st Air Refueling Squadron, Takhli RTAFB, crashes in Thailand shortly after takeoff on training mission while supporting Yankee missions over Laos. Corrosion found in wreckage led to early retirement of the KB-50 fleet and its replacement with Boeing KC-135s. 20 October Two Saab J-29 fighters of the Austrian Air Force ("Red E", 29559, and "Yellow F", 29449) fly off course on a training mission and into Czechoslovakian airspace, where they made a forced landing after running out of fuel. Both pilots survive, but both aircraft are written off. 31 October NASA astronaut Theodore Freeman is killed when a goose smashes through the cockpit canopy of his Northrop T-38A Talon jet trainer, 63-8188, at Ellington AFB, Texas. Flying shards of Plexiglas enter the jet engine intake, causing the engine to flame out. Freeman ejects but is too close to the ground for his parachute to open properly. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. 31 October Tornado collapses hangar of 1° Gruppo Elicotteri (First Helicopter Group), Italian Navy, at the Naval Air Station at Maristaeli Catania, destroying five Sikorsky SH-34G Seabat: MM143899, MM143940, MM143949, MM80163 and MM80164. 11 November French Aéronavale Lockheed P2V-6M Neptune, (BuNo) 134663, c/n 6060, hits a hill and bursts into flames while circling to land at Heraklion Airport, Heraklion, Crete. Nine are killed and four seriously injured. "A French embassy spokesman in Athens said the twin-engine plane, coming from France, carried naval officers on a training flight. They were scheduled to remain in Iraklion until Monday for inauguration ceremonies in which a street is to be named after a French war hero who died in the defense of Crete in World War II." 27 November A Lockheed SP-2H Neptune, BuNo 135610, coded "YC 12", of VP-2, out of NAS Kodiak, crashes into a mountain near the tip of Cape Newenham, Alaska. Twelve crew members killed. 2 December SAC Boeing B-47E Stratojet,